Salvatore Fiume

Published 5 March 2012 in Articoli and Artisti. 0 Comments
Share
Salvatore Fiume

Image via Wikipedia

 

Le esperienze giovanili (1915-1949) 

 

Salvatore Fiume nacque a Comiso, in Sicilia, il 23 ottobre 1915. A sedici anni, grazie al suo talento ed alla sua passione per l’arte, vinse una borsa di studio per frequentare il Regio Istituto d’Arte del Libro di Urbino, dove apprese le tecniche della stampa, dall’incisione alla litografia. Terminati gli studi nel 1936, si trasferì a Milano, dove entrò in contatto con intellettuali ed artisti della levatura di Salvatore Quasimodo, Dino Buzzati e Raffaele Carrieri. A ventitré anni, nel 1938, Fiume si trasferì ad Ivrea, dove divenne art director di una rivista culturale voluta e seguita da Adriano Olivetti, Tecnica e organizzazione; in questi anni realizzò la sua prima opera letteraria di successo, il romanzo Viva Gioconda!, pubblicata a Milano nel 1943 dall’editore Bianchi-Giovini.

 

Volendo dedicarsi soprattutto alla pittura, sebbene l’ambiente letterario che frequentava fosse stimolante, nel 1946 lasciò Ivrea per stabilirsi a Canzo, non lontano da Como, in una filanda ottocentesca dove iniziò il suo intenso e poliedrico percorso di ricerca oltre che nella pittura, anche nella scultura e nell’architettura. Nello stesso anno, a Milano, presentò una serie di disegni a tempera e a china al poeta e critico d’arte Raffaele Carrieri ed al pittore e scrittore Alberto Savinio, fratello dell’ormai affermato pittore metafisico Giorgio de Chirico, che ne rimasero entusiasti.

 

Le prime commissioni importanti (1949-1962) 

 

La sua prima esposizione ufficiale, che comprendeva le opere Isole di statue e Città di statue e che gli permise di suscitare molto interesse presso la critica e di prendere contatti con istituzioni artistiche e culturali a livello mondiale, si tenne nel 1949 alla Galleria Borromini di Milano; qui fu acquistata un’opera del pittore sia dal direttore del Museum of Modern Art di New York, Alfred H. Barr Jr., per esporla nel proprio museo, sia dalla collezione Jucker di Milano. L’anno successivo, nel 1950, fu invitato dalla Biennale di Venezia ad esporre il trittico Isola di statue, il che gli fruttò una pagina sulla rivista americana Life.

 

Nello stesso anno fu invitato dall’architetto Gio Ponti a realizzare una grande opera di 48×3 metri che sarà collocata nel salone di prima classe dell’Andrea Doria, il famoso ed elegante transatlantico affondato nel 1956 al largo di Nantucket, nel Massachusetts. La grande tela, dal titolo Le leggende d’Italia, rappresentava un’immaginaria città rinascimentale ricca di capolavori italiani del Quattrocento e Cinquecento.

 

Già dal 1949 stava lavorando ad un ciclo di dieci grandi dipinti, commissionato dall’industriale Bruno Buitoni Sr, dal titolo Le avventure, le sventure e le glorie dell’antica Perugia, che terminò nel 1952; da queste opere si intuisce l’interesse di Fiume per la pittura rinascimentale, in particolare di Piero della Francesca e di Paolo Uccello. Nel 1953 gli furono commissionate dalle riviste newyorkesi Life e Time delle opere rappresentanti una storia immaginaria di Manhattan e della baia di New York, rielaborate dal pittore come isole di statue.

 

I viaggi attraverso il mondo (1962-1997)

 

Iniziò quindi per il pittore una fase di contatti, viaggi ed esposizioni per tutto il mondo. Tali viaggi ebbero per Fiume un’importanza notevole nella raccolta di impressioni, suoni, forme e colori di culture antiche e moderne, che accrebbero la sua personalità artistica fornendogli materiale per l’espandersi di un immaginario globale, ma sempre disciplinato dalla preponderante lezione della classicità mediterranea.

 

Nel 1962 una mostra itinerante di cento quadri di Fiume toccò diversi musei della Germania, tra i quali quelli di Colonia e Ratisbona. Nel 1973, insieme all’amico fotografo Walter Mori, Fiume si recò nella valle di Babile, in Etiopia, dove dipinse alcune sue ‘isole’ su un gruppo di rocce, usando vernici marine anticorrosione. Un modello di una sezione di queste rocce a grandezza naturale fu realizzato da Fiume per la grande antologica del 1974 al Palazzo Reale di Milano; tale modello riempiva quasi interamente la grande sala delle Cariatidi. Alla stessa mostra fu presentata per la prima volta la Gioconda Africana, ora custodita nei Musei Vaticani.

 

Nel 1975 il comune calabrese di Fiumefreddo Bruzio accettò la proposta di Salvatore Fiume di rivitalizzare gratuitamente il centro storico con alcune sue opere. Il pittore dipinse, quindi, tra il 1975 ed il 1976, alcune pareti interne ed esterne dell’antico castello semidiroccato, e, nel 1977, la cupola della cappella di San Rocco. Negli anni novanta collocò una scultura di bronzo in ognuna delle due piazze panoramiche di Fiumefreddo.

 

Seguirono diverse mostre: nel 1985 quella a Castel Sant’Angelo a Roma; nel 1987 la mostra De Architectura Pingendi allo Sporting d’Hiver di Monte Carlo inaugurato dal principe Ranieri di Monaco; nel 1991 alla Mostra internazionale di architettura a Milano, al Palazzo delle Esposizioni; nel 1992 a Villa Medici, sede dell’Accademia di Francia a Roma. Nel 1993 Fiume visitò i luoghi in cui aveva vissuto Gauguin in Polinesia; donò anche un suo dipinto al Museo Gauguin di Tahiti in omaggio al grande maestro francese.

 

Salvatore Fiume morì a Milano il 3 giugno 1997. Sue opere sono conservate in alcuni dei più importanti musei del mondo, tra i quali i Musei Vaticani, l’Ermitage di San Pietroburgo, il Museum of Modern Art di New York, il Museo Puškin di Mosca e la Galleria d’arte moderna di Milano.

 

Teatro e letteratura

 

Altro elemento che attesta la poliedrica creatività di Salvatore Fiume sono le esperienze che collezionò nella sua carriera di sensibile interprete del mondo che lo circondava. Come scenografo teatrale, dal 1950 al 1960, lo troviamo protagonista al Teatro alla Scala di Milano (scene e costumi per La vita breve di Manuel de Falla), al Covent Garden di Londra, al Teatro dell’opera di Roma ed al Teatro Massimo di Palermo.

 

La sua attività di scrittore iniziò nel 1943 con il romanzo Viva Gioconda! . In seguito Fiume pubblicò altri due romanzi, molti racconti, diverse commedie, una tragedia e due raccolte di poesie. Il suo libro Pagine libere, del 1994 contiene osservazioni molto personali sulla vita e sull’arte. La sua attività di narratore, poeta e drammaturgo gli valse, nel 1988, la laurea ad honorem in Lettere Moderne presso l’università di Palermo.

 

Scultura

 

Come scultore Fiume debuttò nel 1994 con un’esposizione per la Galleria Artesanterasmo di Milano. In realtà le sue prime esperienze furono alcuni bassorilievi in gesso risalenti agli anni quaranta. In seguito utilizzò anche altri materiali come il vimine, la ceramica, il bronzo, il marmo, e la resina. Una serie di esperienze che avevano visto la realizzazione di sculture in marmo, su bozzetto di Fiume, con l’uso di tecniche meccaniche portarono l’artista a desiderare di realizzare le proprie sculture senza più mediazioni. Così, all’età di 79 anni, Fiume realizzò personalmente sculture di notevoli dimensioni, come Le tre grazie, dal modello in plastilina alla forma definitiva in resina policroma: un impegno estremamente faticoso che, a detta dei famigliari, contribuì anche a minare la salute dell’artista. La sua produzione comprende opere in pietra, bronzo, resina, legno e ceramica, alcune delle quali di grandi dimensioni, come la statua di bronzo al Parlamento Europeo di Strasburgo, i gruppi in pietra degli ospedali San Raffaele di Milano e di Roma e il gruppo bronzeo per la Fontana del Vino a Marsala. Una mostra all’aperto delle sue sculture fu ospitata nel 1995 dal Centro Allende di Spezia.

 

 

Enhanced by Zemanta
Share

The Neo-Expressionist PETER MAX

Published 3 March 2012 in Artisti and Espressionismo. 0 Comments
Share

Although for avid collectors such as me, the most coveted MAX’s items are the ones produced during late Sixties through the end of the Seventies, including masterpieces reproduced in optimal quality Lithograph series, it’s hard to refute that his quasi mass production of the “best Sellers” we are so familiar nowadays, are generating a high level of curiosity, if you will, and a big cash flow for the New York Studio. PETER is a restless worker, an art cyborg of mixed media, whereas his patriotic themes such as the Statue of Liberty in all its forms and shapes, and the American Flag, are perhaps the big hits, and the collections that created that Quantum leap he had during the exciting decade of the Eighties, let alone the plethora of versions of the LOVE “ritornello”.

For the aficionado of his work, I suggest that a division easy to understand and follow is to divide the collections in four basic sections: 1) Memorabilia, items he franchised such as clothing, toys, baseball cards, miniature cars, umbrellas, inflatable pillows, etc. 2) Posters and mass media prints, be it signed by MAX or not 3) Mixed media pieces, whereas a pre-printed paper or canvas is finally completed in acrylic only by the hand of the artist 4) The real thing, as I define the originally hand painted with acrylic exclusively on canvas. Pricewise, its understood that the originals on canvas are most expensive and can reach prices well over $150.000. In this more exclusive groupage of pieces, I believe that canvases of 30 x 40 inches of the Liberty Head, the Blushing Beauty, the Umbrella Man, a Better World and Roseville Bouquets, among others, are my favorites, and the market price stands around $ 40.000 each.

As decoration for a modern home or office, the most common item will be the small 8 X 10 or 11 X 13 inches mixed media papers that carry the Max signature and touch, yet with a lower ticket price of around $ 1.200.

PETER MAX is 73 years old ( October 2010, his birthmonth), he is perhaps on of the last living legends of the Sixties art Revolution and completely MADE IN THE USA, thus, not only we all should support his effort and tenacity, but we should pass his legacy to the next generations that so vividly embrace technology but completely omit the sensibility of art in all its expressions. I for one, have my Ipad fully “skinned” with MAX’s motifs, including the screensaver, and my collection already surpases the 425 pieces.

Share

Pablo Picasso – A Life of Art

Published 3 March 2012 in Artisti and Espressionismo. 0 Comments
Share

Picasso from the beginning had oodles of talent, rebelliousness and genius; his art- teacher father copped it from the off and nurtured the young Pablo until he surpassed him when barely in his teens. Soon after, his family moved to Barcelona, the city would forever be Picasso’s real home in his heart. His father persuaded the School of Fine Arts to allow his son to sit their entrance examination; this process normally took a number of months, Picasso did it in a week, he was accepted – he was still only thirteen. At sixteen, he went to study in Madrid’s Royal Academy of San Fernando, but he detested the didactic nature of the institution and began mitching classes, spending his days in the Prado admiring the works of Velazquez, Goya, Zurbaran and in particular El Greco. He moved to Paris in 1900, moving in with the poet Max Jacob who taught him French and French literature. Picasso ate up the works of Manet, Courbet and Toulouse-Lautrec; his own work was changing from use of a variable range of brilliant colours to a single dark and oppressive blue. It revealed a change in the way he viewed his subjects, no longer ruthlessly and satirically but with sympathy and melancholy. They were paintings of the dispossessed of Paris, those existing in the void, their spiritual smattering evoked powerfully by angular lines and the blue, the blue, the never-ending blue! El Greco is all over Picasso’s Blue Period, the lost hours wandering the lost corridors of the Prado were not so lost after all.

From 1904, his work began to regain its romantic quality, the tin of blue paint had ran out and Pablo bought warmer colours and began to develop a style that would so dominate the twentieth century. He still concentrated on social misfits, concentrating on those outcasts who decide to go the whole hog, no longer bothering with any convention, where did he find such cutaways? Why, the circus of course! Harlequins, acrobats and clowns dominate his work during this period. Picasso painted them and they influenced him, he too would soon abandon all convention, ripping up the form book and defining things on his own merits and in so doing or by so doing he entered his African period. His Les Demoiselles d’Avignon (1907, Museum of Modern Art) was pure abandonment! The traditional female nude debased, denuded and deconstructed – even the reckless artists of the time were horrified, Matisse accused Picasso of pissing over the whole modernist movement by churning out stuff like it – wonderfully Picasso knew better than the rest. Like any new visual language, the masses would have to go to class and learn to speak it. The Cubist painters rejected the oft repeated axiom that art should copy nature or that they should adopt the traditional techniques of perspective, modelling and foreshortening. Instead they wanted to emphasise the two-dimensional quality of the canvas. Figures and objects were dissected and re-assembled into hideous but compelling figures, for awhile the original subject was evoked but then that small comfort was blown to kingdom come.

Instead they wanted to emphasise the two-dimensional quality of the canvas. Figures and objects were dissected and re-assembled into hideous but compelling figures, for a while the original subject was evoked but then that small comfort was blown to kingdom come. Then Picasso exploded the whole shebang, he began pasting coloured pieces of paper on his compositions, three dimensional perspective was erased and now the real world was penetrating art. Following the hell of World War I, Picasso followed the rest of Europe and tip-toed away from the precipice, stopped contemplating flinging himself into the abyss – he began to produce work in a neo-classical style. At this stage Picasso could have shat on a canvas and the world would have applauded, Picasso detested his fame, seeing as the curse of the artist. He began sculpting work, perhaps hoping that the world would leave him alone, that they would not be interested in his novel attempts at a different medium, of course this was not to be. His work was now being influenced by the burgeoning Surrealist movement but conversely they viewed their work as hereditary of Picasso. His final works were a mish-mash of styles, he churned out work in a mind-boggling amount of styles. The majority dismissed his late work, deriding him as an old geezer who was way past his prime. How could they dismiss him? Had they learnt nothing? Had they not being watching him for decades and decades? Only after his death, when the rest of the world had moved on from abstract expressionism did the wishy-washy art community realise that Picasso had already discovered neo-expressionism, as usual way ahead of his time, again they would have to go to class to learn the new visual language.

About the Author

 

Russell Shortt is a travel consultant with Exploring Ireland, the leading specialists in customised, private escorted tours, escorted coach tours and independent self drive tours of Ireland. Article source Russell Shortt, http://www.exploringireland.net
http://www.visitscotlandtours.com

Share

Western Painting – Expressionism – A New Approach to Creativity in the 20th & 21st Century

Published 3 March 2012 in Espressionismo. 0 Comments
Share

Expressionism – Concept
Rich artworks, thick brush strokes, compelling, and conveying the personal ‘feelings’ & ‘emotions,’ rather than physicality, with a dint of ‘Symbolism’ is considered in the world of painting as ‘Expressionism.’ In this style of Western Painting, the stress lies upon story idea and colors, rather than on the finer visual details of the object.

History
In the early 20th century, German Art witnessed a revolution in the form of Expressionism. In 1910, Czech art historian Antonín Matejcek used the term first time as an antonym of Impressionism. This painting style was developed to counter German Positivism, Naturalism, and Impressionism. Expressionism manifested its best through the groups Die Brücke of Munich and Der Blaue Reiter of Dresden.

Expressionists:
The earlier era saw some famous Expressionists, such as Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Otto Dix, Alexei von Jawlensky, Egon Schiele, Oskar Kokoschka, and Max Beckmann. Great painter Vincent van Gogh used the term ‘Post-Impressionist’ for his painting, which actually was a form of ‘Expressionism’ only.

Expressionism – The Correlation
Expressionism had the influence of other art forms, such as Post-Impressionism, African Art, and French Fauvism, on the emotional wavelength capture. However, bold brush strokes and a vivid use of bright colors, making the paintings look loud, violent, and jarring, remained explicit to Expressionism only. Edvard Munch’s ‘The Scream’ is one of the earliest and the most prominent Expressionist works. Usually dark, gloomy, and full of pessimism, Expressionism rarely showed any positive emotions or optimism. Therefore, Expressionist painters gave vent to their emotions and crude inner self on the canvas through their work. It would serve as a sort of art therapy for them.

Expressionism – Types

o Abstract Expressionism: It is an innovative form of Modern Art. More dynamic, Abstract Expressionism is very less representational. American Expressionists, such as Jackson Pollock and Willem De Kooning and the Color-Field painters, like Mark Rothko, Barnett Newman, and Clyfford Still pioneered Abstract Expressionism in New York, in 1950s.

o Neo-Expressionism: The wave of Neo-Expressionist art emerged in America, Britain, Germany, Italy, and France in 1980s. In every country, a Neo- Expressionist group was formed, such as in America it included Philip Guston and Julian Schnabel, while New Spirit Painting was formed with Paula Rego and Christopher Le Brun in Britain. In Germany, Neue Wilden (New Waves), in Italy Transavanguardia (beyond the avant-garde), and Figuration Libre in France, were other key Neo-Expressionist groups or forms.

o Miscellaneous: New York Figurative Expressionism, Tachisme (1940s-50s), Bay Area Figurative Movement (1950-65), and Lyrical Abstraction (1960s-70s) are some other wings of the very prolific Expressionism.

Expressionist style was always new, unique, and modern in essence. It always sought to balance the countering tangents of the same exponent, such as past and future, static and dynamic, and individual and society. Owing to its vivid and expressive span, Expressionism continues to stay as a prominent fraction of the art faculty. Literature, theatre, film, architecture, and music too have Expressionist wings in their own right.

Annette Labedzki received her BFA at the Emily Carr College of Art and Design in Vancouver, B.C. Canada. She has more than 25 years experience. She is the founder and developer of an online art gallery featuring original art from all over the world. It is a great site for art collectors to buy original art. Is is also a venue for artists to display and sell their art . Artists can join for free and their image upload is unlimited. Please visit the website at http://www.Labedzki-Art.com.

Annette has bonus offers on her work only. Buy 2 paintings of any size and receive 1 painting of your choice for free of equal size and value. SHIPPING IS FREE IN CANADA AND US ON SMALLER ITEMS.

Please feel free to subscribe to her newsletter at http://www.Labedzki-Art.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Annette_Labedzki

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/2965444

Share

Western Painting – Neo-Expressionism – A Creative Wave From Germany

Published 3 March 2012 in Espressionismo. 0 Comments
Share

Neo-Expressionism – The History
During the late 1970s, a modern painting style called Neo-expressionism developed in Germany. German painter George Baselitz (born 1938) was considered as its pioneer. This art style was adapted in painting, printmaking, and sculpting. It challenged the Conceptual and Minimalists art movements, which reined the art scene at the time. By early 1980s, Neo-expressionism gained prominence in the entire Europe and later made its mark in the US. Though, may not be considered as an art movement as such, but it was a major phenomenon that changed the art world for good. Neo-expressionism ended the domination of the impersonal American Abstract styles. It also brought the welcome revival of the human element and relatable Symbolism in art forms.

The Related Terms
In Germany, Neo-expressionists were tagged as Neue Wilden, meaning ‘new wild ones.’ In Italy, it was also referred to as Transavantgarde, which stands for ‘beyond the avant-garde.’ In the US, it was labeled with different names, like New Fauves or Punk Art, and even Bad Painting.

The Details
Neo-expressionists often created allegorical works based on history, mythology, and eroticism. Over-dramatized themes with brilliant coloring and wild brushwork were the basic characteristics of any work of this genre. The artists were not interested in making realistic representations, but they wanted to convey intense emotions through their paintings. They would adapt frenzied brushstrokes with cacophonous color combinations to create highly tense overpowering depictions. Some artists even used thick impasto of color blended with sand, straw, or broken glass, to heighten impact. They sometimes even made use of straight abstracts to depict human figures. Their unusual approach lent their works a certain quality of rawness. Neo-expressionism may not have been a huge commercial success but it carved a niche for itself in the art market. Many art critics frowned on the aggression displayed in Neo-expressionist works and described them as ‘ugly’ and ‘unrefined.’

The Artists
Some of the major Neo-expressionists are German artists Anselm Kiefer (born 1945) and Jorg Immenorff (1945-2007), Italian artists Francesco Clemente (born 1952) and Sandro Chia (born 1946), British artist Christopher Le Brun (born 1951) and Paula Rego (born 1935), and American painters Julian Schnabel (born 1951) and David Salle (born 1952). It is not a very well known fact that Elizabeth Murray (1940-2007) and Maria Lassnig (born 1919) were two important female protagonists of Neo-expressionism.

Conclusion
A controversial aspect of the movement was that chiefly male artists dominated it. Most of the time, they would purposefully exclude female participants from their exhibitions. One such exhibition was ‘New Spirit in Painting,’ held in a London gallery in 1981 and had 38 male artists showing their works. By mid-1980s, the movement ended.

Annette Labedzki received her BFA at the Emily Carr College of Art and Design in Vancouver, B.C. Canada. She has more than 25 years experience. She is the founder and developer of an online art gallery featuring original art from all over the world. Please visit the website at http://www.Labedzki-Art.com It is a great site for art collectors to buy original art. Artists can join for free and their image upload is unlimited.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Annette_Labedzki

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/3320642

Share

Expressionist Art: Then and Now

Published 3 March 2012 in Espressionismo. 0 Comments
Share

Expressionist art was and has always been a type of art that gives a large part of itself over to the realm of emotions and feelings, and also makes an attempt at communication through its use of color and its departure from the expected norms of the art world. The very word “expressionist” tells us a lot of what we need to know about this style of art; expressionist works created in this particular style are meant to express something, be it a particular message or simply the feelings of the artist who brought it to life. In most cases these feelings and emotions are the product of or at least inspired by the circumstances and situations that inspired the artist.

Expressionism came alive in the early years of the twentieth century and was a major art movement throughout the US and Europe until it progressed into Abstract Expressionism, a style that truly grabbed the art world by the shoulders and gave it a good hard shake. Many people credit this style as creating the largest divide between artists and the American public of any art style up to that point. Even now, over fifty years since its birth the Abstract Expressionist style is still largely misunderstood by many people. Intended to catch the attention of the viewer, expressionist art is often filled with vivid tints and shade as well as shapes and forms that are assembled with no real sense of depth or reference making their appearance unsettling to some and intriguing to others. Modern technology has made it possible to create expressionist art in a number of mediums including digital works and motion graphics.

Expressionist art is still popular among artists of today, and many of these artists choose to sell art online to customers all over the world. Though perhaps not as appealing to the general public as contemporary art, this style of art still has its place in the market of art online today. It is possible for an artist creating expressionist works of art to sell art online using a personal website, a gallery profile, a blog, or even a social networking site such as FaceBook. Though it was a style of art that sprang from the turbulent times in which it was born, expressionist art is still very much alive today and can be found in various online galleries and marketplaces all over the internet.

Selling expressionist art online can be tough because there is so much expressionist art online to choose from! Let the staff of Artweb.net help you sell art from your collection today!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Juliette_Traversen

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6898034

Share

Collecting Art – A Matter of Perspective

Published 3 March 2012 in Articoli and Notizie. 0 Comments
Share

Collecting fine art is all a matter of personal perspective. What appeals to one individual might not necessarily appeal to another. However, there are two prevailing schools of thought when collecting fine art: the first is, you should learn to buy what you love; the second is, you should learn to love what you buy.

Since there is no right or wrong answer to this debate and it is just a matter of personal preference, my first reaction is to say, buy what you love. With all due respect, you do not buy a couch or a bedroom set because it is a good investment, you buy it because it makes you feel comfortable. Whether you sit on it, lay on it, or sleep on it, the chances are, when you walk through the door you do not ponder if you made a sound investment.

Well, fine art is no different. In essence, it is a piece of wall furniture. Nothing more. If it makes you feel good then that is what really matters; and, you made the right choice.

I have a very close friend who just spent about $30,000 on a beautiful oil painting from a contemporary artist because it reminded her of her father. She asked me, did I do the right thing? As I answered, yes, the second question out of her mouth was, will I ever get my money out of it? My answer was simple: will you ever get your money out of the living room set you bought? The conversation should have ended there, but it did not. She then asked, would you have done the same? My answer was honest and direct. No.

As for myself, I would have bought a masterwork: a Rembrandt etching; a Durer woodcut; a Picasso linocut; or, a Chagall lithograph. Not just because of the return on investment, but because I love masterworks. For me, it has mostly been about possessing a piece of history.

In my mind, fine art, no matter how fine, is a piece of wall furniture: still glorious; beautiful; personal; and, comfortable. A masterwork, however, because of its place in history is a piece of wall property; and, to me, that is what makes masterworks so appealing.

Far be it from me to judge anyone’s taste in fine art. I cannot even follow the simple math when it comes to paint-by-numbers. But with so much importance put on the new millennium catch phrase ROI or Return on Investment, it is much to my benefit that collecting masterworks is my preference.

The expression, if you buy what you love then you can never go wrong, is ultimately true. Collecting fine art is a deeply personal decision. But, regardless of your fine art collecting habits, if you do not feel richer as the work of art hangs on your wall, then you have made the wrong decision.

For B. Mathew Are, collecting and selling art has not only been a way to make a living, it has also been a way of life. Durerpost inherited its name because Albrecht Durer’s place in art history, but the author’s love for masterworks and fine art is all encompassing. Please feel free to visit us at http://www.durerpost.com/.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=B._Mathew_Are

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6905099

Enhanced by Zemanta
Share

About Carlo’s Art

Published 4 May 2008 in Articoli, Artisti and Dicono di Carlo. 0 Comments
Share

Carlo Criscione feels painting epidermically his color which is the predominant gene of his artistic expression, organ genetical strength, that organizes and restructures the color and gives to the color that formal plastic character with a sunlight.

Without doubt the inspiration of every artist, is that to near the ideal expression of the object, that universal ideal that unites the I empirical with the creative vision. Criscione tries to feel painting as end to itself and in itself, this is possible only across the color a focal point of the primitive strength, from whom the universal energy is produced. In his paintings, the color becomes common denominator, his visual emotions, give him the possibility to reach the necessary plastic statement with the harmony of chromatic values.

Gianna Pagano Paolino
(Art critic)

Share

Una esposizione ragusana del 1987

Published 4 May 2008 in Articoli and Dicono di Carlo. 1 Comment
Share

All’inizio del secolo si diffuse per l’Europa intera, ma in Francia più, che altrove, il gusto per lo studio e la scoperta dell’arte primitiva negra – africana.

Francia vuoi dire soprattutto Parigi, a ragione considerata allora la capitale della cultura europea tout-court e la mitica città delle mille esperienze, le più esaltanti dell’arte contemporanea. Si pensi alla schiera di grandi pittori che in quel periodo vi elessero domicilio ideale, quando non addirittura vero reale fisico.

Dicevamo del fascino per l’arte primitiva, che veniva dall’Africa nera: totem, maschere di guerra, maschere propiziatrici, divinità semitiche, oggettistica varia, persino scudi di guerra variamente decorati a motivi geometrici. Ebbene la diffusione dì questi archetipi ebbe un rilievo profondo, insieme al perdurare del mito del buon selvaggio, su tutta la cultura più avanzata dell’epoca, ma più ancora per l’influsso sull’arte pittorica dei primi anni del secolo. Si pensi al giovane Picasso ancora preso dall’espressionismo di Lautrec e Gauguin, che cambia poetica espressiva e si volge con entusiasmo alla semplice volumetria e geometria della pittura negra. Lo stesso avviene per Modigliani proprio nei suoi anni più fervorosi di opere e di studi. Non citiamo gli altri.

Tutta questa produzione iconologia, che deforma espressivamente il vero modello reale, ha avuto per Carlo Criscione più che uno stimolo, addirittura la forza dell’archetipo a cui ispirarsi per una esperienza figurativa piena di entusiasmi e di sommossi slanci pittorici.

Autodidatta, ma assistito da tanti maestri, da più lustri ci viene proponendo questa pittura personalissima piena di incantate stilizzazioni, che fanno delle sue grandi tavole o tele il fascino discreto di una decorazione dai colori vivaci e luminosi volta alla più smaliziata deformazione del vero per una resa più moderna dei dati pittorici della realtà. Per questo le sue ascendenze culturali più vicine comprendono Sutherland, ma anche Bacon, persino Matisse fino al nostro Baj. A loro ha chiesto ispirazione per la determinazione degli archetipi, non certo per una sterile imitazione; la sua pittura è, infatti, sincera, personale e nuova senza alcuna inclinazione a modelli di altri, però respira la stessa temperie, e in ciò sta la sua motivazione più vera, dell’arte moderna e contemporanea attraverso la poetica del surrealismo espressionistico, oggi forse, il filone più ricco di tanta arte contemporanea che prescinde in modo rigoroso dalle astruserie senza senso e dalle stravaganze neoavan-guardistiche, che ormai hanno fatto il loro tempo. Il mondo pittorico di Cario Criscione, il suo universo iconografico comprende soprattutto ritratti e figure antropomorfe femminili con qualche inclinazione agli animali più belli dal punto di vista rappresentativo, come il pappa-gallino su di una grande tela che gli ho visto qualche tempo fa.. Non dipinge quasi mai il paesaggio e pochissime volte la natura morta, se non come parte integrante di un quadro di figure. La sua predilezione come dicevamo, va al corpo femminile investigato in tutte le sue implicanze espressive e decorative con un disegno sapido e lineare, volutamente trascurando prospettiva e chiaroscuro, ma con una campitura a larghe zone di colori primari o puri con ascendenze a certo purismo cromatico proprio di tanta parte della pittura veneta del seicento o del settecento. Il corpo femminile dunque, ma a volte anche la figura dell’uomo, specie quando questa è destinata a sottolineare la presenza della compagna dell’uomo.

Come si vede, Carlo Criscione partecipa, perciò, della più moderna cultura figurativa e ha compiuto alcune ricerche formali decisive per la sua formazione, ma anche per la sua – definizione di un’arte maturar’e consapevole, che coinvolgono il suo destino personale di pittore e di creatore di fantasmi immaginifici per una iconografia espressionistica dell’arte contemporanea, che rappresenta l’impegno più importante di tutta la sua produzione d’arte.

 

Angelo Campo (docente d’arte)

1987

Share

Soul Train Tickets On Painter Carlo Criscione

Published 1 May 2008 in Articoli and Dicono di Carlo. 0 Comments
Share

The following article has been taken from Winter 2004 edition of “Sicilia Parra”, bi-annual newsletter of “Arba Sicula”, Department of Languages and Literatures, St. John’s University, Jamaica, New York.

You can download the original article here:
Sicilia Parra – Winter 2004

——————————————-

By Giuseppe Provenzano

As an art critic and historian it can be difficult, sometimes, to have to write about a painter whose works lay still on canvas awaiting a reply from the viewer. There is a process that goes on in one’s head by which, as it unravels in one’s mind spinning as if from a yam out of control, it begins to touch certain points connecting them in such a way until a certain meaning arises. Not a rational meaning of course, but a rather subtle and tenuous thought that, like the thread of the yam itself, begins to float weightlessly and, as it wanders in space, images and forms begin to appear. No labels therefore, no easy tags, the kind that immediately allow us to place anything and anyone in a given compartment, but rather tickets to an imaginary place where we are able to discover what the artist is trying to say from the depths of his soul. 

Nature, landscapes, still lives, a few portraits populate the production of Criscione’s work. A world that is clearly the one of his native places, distinctly Sicilian and even more distinctive of southeastern Sicily. In the southeast of Sicily, the comer that looks onto the long Mediterranean swells that arrive from Byzantium, light is different than the rest of the Island, the sea assumes much more intense shades of blue; one tends to pause, transfixed, when staring at this sea. It seems bigger in this part of the Island, rounder with the curvature of the earth more visible, deeper and then, as if by some mysterious workings the mind, one begins to talk to the sea and answers do come to the questions holding within them a message for the soul. Carlo Criscione, who was born in Ragusa in 1946, has spent his life in this comer of the world and it is only natural that this particular light and artistic muse should fill his art. 

We are not talking about a certain reading of Criscione’s work, but rather of a mysterious quality of the land that he is able to capture and, in a single composition, to portray it faithfully even when he is painting an urban landscape without sea. One could say this is intuitive work, a native talent, as if he were a nai’ve painter; yet it is obvious from the colorful strokes that he is a mature artist. The composition betrays his knowledge of the masters and his teachers alike, the juxtaposition of colors and shapes talk of a mind at ease in the play of geometrical schemes. His vision and ability succeed in abstracting from the real the essence of things and in this process he arrives to a representation that is nothing other than an invitation to a place of meditation.

Even when the world appears fantastically transfixed, as critic Nunzio Zago once stated of Criscione’s art, we still know at every given moment what is at stake when we look at some of his paintings. As we allow the eye to dive into the light and the sea of his paintings we pass beyond the apparent naivete of the artist and enter a realm in which we are one on one with nature; that nature that every Sicilian would be able to recognise because it is one with Sicilian life itself. 

We recognize it as an invitation to go on a trip and that, indeed, Criscione is inviting us on a voyage where we know almost exactly what awaits us upon arrival. It is not surprising therefore, that many of his paintings portray dissolving lines, forced perspectives leading to infinity, vanishing horizons, roads and railroads. They represent an emotional idiom about a pensive and meditative world, the one he lives in, the one he wants us to visit, which is the one we would find in Ragusa, of course, but also the universal world that makes us all who we are. A train journey to the depths of the soul where every painting is nothing but a ticket to ride. 

Carlo Criscione’s painting will be on exhibition in New York in the autumn of 2005. For a preview or more information you can visit the artist’s site at www.carlocriscione.com or contact our editorial office.

Share

Slideshow

Get the Flash Player to see the slideshow.

Lingua